Blogweek Day 4

Tomorrow we have our monthly SoCal Youth MInistry Mafia meeting, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve made mention before about much this group of guys means to me, and I don’t mind bringing it up again.

Ministry is a complicated. ‘Professional’ ministry is even more so. One of the things we run into as youth ministers is constantly having to explain our job to others. For me, I have a few prepared answers to try and encapsulate what exactly it is that I do.

The truth is, it’s tough to sum up what all we do in a single conversation. At the very least, it would be a long conversation and you would probably be bored before we got past the halfway mark.

Which leads to another issue, our job description changes and grows constantly. This week alone I have been a video editor, a mentor, a listener, a teacher, greeter, a graphic designer, a parent liason, a team leader, a team member, a bible student, an author and an idea man. Actually, that’s just yesterday and today.

But with all of the difficulties in trying to explain the details of my job, I find it very easy to explain why I am a youth minister. I love God, and I love working with teenagers. It’s that simple. My job, therefore, is to teach teenagers about God’s love.

And it’s nice to be around people who understand that experience. The cuz pointed out a while back, that most jobs surround you with others doing the same job. Most accountants work with other accountants. Mechanics, lawyers, etc… Ministers have a different experience all together, because very rarely do we work with other youth ministers. And if/when we do, we typically come from different churches and different dynamics, that make our experiences truly one of a kind.

Which is why it’s a blast to meet up with the ym mafia. It’s a time where we get to let loose and share with guys that understand what we do, and why we do it.

There will be jokes, there will be sharing frustrations, there will be advice, but most importantly there will be an underlying knowledge that the guy across the table is on the same journey. And that makes for amazing community, a special friendship, and a bond that can only come from God.

One love, one heart.

Listening

Rolling Stone Top 100 of the decade (sucks btw)

The Blueprint 3 / Jay-Z

The Shepherd’s Dog / Iron and Wine

Reading

Ecclesiastes

Ed. Note: I wrote this on Weds but for some reason it did not publish. Sorry to both of my readers that might have been upset about the apparent lack of a post during blogweek.